Ayers-Dohrn-Obama Tie Shouldn't Be Dismissed

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has consistently tried to discount the depth of his relationship with Bill Ayers, one of the founding members of the Weather Underground, a radical left-wing terrorist group that formed in 1969 and was most famous for a string of bombings in the 1970s.

Obama campaign manager David Axelrod and other campaign surrogates are now furtively trying to claim today that Obama "didn't know the history" of Ayers and Dohrn as the leaders of America's most infamous left-wing terrorist group when Obama met at their home for a political "coming out" in 1995, but their attempt to make pretend that Barack Obama didn't know of their terrorist past is laughable.

By 1995, Barack Obama had known Bill Ayers at least eight years since their shared involvement in the Alliance for Better Chicago Schools, if not longer. Bernardine Dohrn, once labeled "the most dangerous woman in America" by none other than J. Edgar Hoover, was also well known as the inspiration for the 1988 movie Running on Empty. Subtle terrorists they were not.

As noted in the New York Times, Obama has tried to minimize his relationship with Ayers, dismissing him as "a guy who lives in my neighborhood" and "somebody who worked on education issues in Chicago that I know."

Axelrod also tried to excuse the extent of Obama's involvement with Ayers, stating, "Bill Ayers lives in his neighborhood. Their kids attend the same school. ... They're certainly friendly, they know each other, as anyone whose kids go to school together."

It's an obvious fiction pitched by Axelrod, since the Obama children are presently in elementary school, while Ayers' children are all grown adults, but the Ayers-Obama family connection doesn't stop at the imaginary connections between the children.

Bernardine Dohrn, Ayers' wife, has largely escaped recent scrutiny, but that lack of attention doesn't reduce her role as either a leader -- and some may argue, the leader -- of the Weathermen. Nor can it mask her ties to both Barack and Michelle Obama. It's now a family affair.

According to a reputable Pajamas Media source that wishes to remain anonymous and knew the Dohrn family, Bernardine Dohrn "always believes the ends justify the means" and is the head of the Ayers-Dohrn household. Dohrn was the violent, arguably pathological Leninist core of the Revolutionary Youth Movement, which led her and allied militants to fight for control of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The SDS split as a result of the Dohrn-led revolt and the Revolutionary Youth Movement split again, with Dohrn's faction becoming the Weather Underground.